Bitter Sweet Symphony

A song which The Verve made virtually no money from. The string section of Bittersweet Symphony is sampled from an orchestral version of the Rolling Stones' "The Last Time"
performed by the Andrew Oldham Orchestra in the 1960s. The album's notes credit Oldham, and the sample was used with Oldham's permission, but the publishing copyright was actually owned by ex-Stones manager Allen Klein, who received all royalties from the song. That's why they sold the song to Nike... they picked a small chunk of cash for it that Klein couldn't touch.

Richard Ashcroft claims (rather humorously, if you hear the old song) that the sample is "barely audible", and is quoted as saying "It's horrible and it's a pisser and it's a downer but it's beautiful because the song goes, 'You're a slave to the money then you die'. In the end, who gives a shit. There's more to be had from this band than 'Bittersweet Symphony'. We'll make another fucking symphony."